Analysing the impact of social media marketing and online advertisements on consumer behaviour

Transcription

1 Analysing the impact of social media marketing and online advertisements on consumer behaviour Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration (Marketing) at Dublin Business School Submitted By: Arun Chitharanjan ID: Supervisor - Dave Hurley

2 DECLARATION I Arun Chitharanjan, declare that this research is my original work and that it has never been presented to any institution or university for the award of Degree or Diploma. In addition, I have referenced correctly all literature and sources used in this work and this work is fully compliant with the Dublin Business School s academic honesty policy. Signed: Arun Chitharanjan Date :

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Overview Research background Company overview Research problem Aims and objectives of the study Research question Rationale of the study Significance of the study Research methodology Structure of the study... 9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Social Media Development of Social Media Marketing Social Media concept and its dimensions Types of Social Media Social News Social Networking Sites (SNS) Media Sharing Sites Micro Blogging Blogs Social Media and Branding Attitude formation... 12

4 2.8 Theories on social media Interactionism Theory Symbolic Interactionism Theory Hype-Symbolic Interactionism Theory Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Behaviour Social media and consumer Social media as a mean of giving consumers a voice The Influences on Decision Making Process CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Introduction Research onion Research philosophy Research approach Research design Research type Data Collection Methods Sampling Method Data Analysis Plan Accessibility Issues Ethical Issues Summary... 8 CHAPTER 4- DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Introduction... 1 Demographic profile Frequency distribution and Bar charts... 2

5 4.3 Frequency distribution and pie charts Descriptive statistics ANOVA test Cross tabulation CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION... 1 REFLECTION... 4 REFERENCES... 7

6 ABSTRACT Purpose of the study The previous researches are being conducted to study the impact of the online marketing over the consumer behavior have failed to provide a concrete result. The previous researches are mostly related with the accessibility of the customers. There are no effective researches that are done on the buying pattern behavior of the customer. It is also seen that certain researches are focused only on the impact of social media thus the point of online advertisement remain neglected. Thus in the present researcher, the researcher has tried to investigate that in spite of having huge infrastructure why Apple Inc has not been able to market their products effectively. Objectives of the study The main objectives of undertaking the study is have a critical understanding of varied concepts of social media marketing and the online advertisement. Research even critically investigates the different customer behavior pattern. Further, this study tried to recognize the challenges that are faced by Apple Inc related to the improper social media and online advertisement marketing strategies. The study is also going to lay down recommendation solutions in order to tackle the challenges faced by Apple Inc Research methodology The research methodology that has been adopted for carrying out this study is based on quantitative technique. In order to undertake this study data has been collected from both primary and secondary source. In order to undertake the analysis of information collected from primary source SPSS software has been used by researcher. The analysis that has been undertaken for fulfilling the objectives of this research were frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, ANOVA test and cross tabulation. Conclusions Research identified that satisfaction level of consumer are seen to be high with respect to social media advertising undertaken by consumer, but still it could be seen that there are particular group of individuals who disagrees to this aspect. It has also been found that consumer has been undergoing online advertisement using social media marketing and this states that business must carry out appropriate advertisement using such media channels. It has also been 1

7 identified that in the present era if business needs to influence the behavior of consumer towards their product and services then they have to carry out their advertisement using social media channels. 2

8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview The consumers of internet in the present times are widely spread in all over the world and have taken a growth in many of the sectors. Digital media had provided new way of communication to engage the consumer in different business sector. Various Online tools are also increasing on rapid rate to reach new customers. According to recent marketing research, social media is getting involved in people s lives and making them more dependent. The marketing approaches are astounding with millions of customers. The whole world spends approximately110 billion minutes on accessing social networking sites like Face book, twitter and reading blogs (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). It has been also analysed that visitor of social media are increased up to 24% in last year. The above factor does not put a doubt about how business sector overlaps to people s life by social medium. Social media improve the interaction by providing contents publically and gain interest of visitors. Social sites are tools to spread the information among consumers. People are sharing their personnel content or public content inside and outside their professional life. Large groups of people are associated with blogs, social networking site, mutual project and implicit world. The phenomenon is highly adapted by corporate world to share the information and present their latest product. This empowers the business. Subsequently social media provides inexpensive platform for their business and directly engage with their customer. Therefore, it emphasise on effective marketing which is better than traditional marketing schemes (Vatrapu, 2013). It has been observed by many companies who get more interactive and becomes famous on social media. This results on their business rapid growth. It has been reported in 2010, Face book have nearly about 400 millions of users. There are 1.5 million users who belong to the business sector. The organisation requires being well aware about the platforms from where they could approach large number of customers and spread their information among them. Some of the companies like- Dell, Samsung, Sony, etc. have experienced the increment of sales while using social media (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). In last year of February, Sony announced on a social site i.e. Twitter, that they had gain extra $1.6 million. After in June month Dell Company also experienced the direct connection to the customer and it increases the overall growth of the 3

9 business. It generates a question that whether social media is best for highly reputed brand, or it is helpful for smaller brands. In 2009, social media gave the answer by a so-called example of a very small shoe company situated at Canada. The company s name was John Fluevog Boots and Shoes which analysed their sales increment by 40 percent after starting advertisement on social media and becomes well known brand. Social media is new research for marketing but still some research is there. Social media offers various strategies to manage above explained phenomenon. The strategies offered by them are recommended in nature and lack experimental in support. According to previous findings, social media had investigated the user tempting fields. They are also trying to find facts of relevance interest (Vinerean.et.al, 2013). Larry Weber 2009 had mentioned in his book that Social media is a new marketing platform where judgment of public changes in every hour, minute and even each seconds but the attitude of customer for product are not changed in this rapid rate. 1.2 Research background Many of the renowned researchers had worked hard in order to gain knowledge and understanding about the impact of social marketing on consumer behaviour. It has been found that there are no much researches being carried on the buying behaviours of the consumers. Most of them are done with the accessibility of the customers. It has been observed that some of the researchers had focused on the impacts of social marketing only and thus avoids the aspects of online advertising at large. The present research in the investigated and strived hard to examine each and every single aspect related to the social marketing and its impacts over the consumers of Apple Inc. 1.3 Company overview Apple Inc is been listed among the world s top most information technology companies. It is an American multination company being headquartered in Cupertino, California, US. The organisation had initiated its operations in the year 1976 and acquires immense area of infrastructure. The company includes approximately 115,000 people in its workforce at different levels of functionalities. Apple offers wide range of products and services and deals mainly in the sales of consumer electronics, online services and computer software. It provide a range of hardware products such as ipad tablet computer, iphone Smartphone, Mac personal computers, 4

10 etc. The company also have an online Apple store along with approximately 475 retail stores which serves people at the large platforms with the ranges of the products and services in the entire world. With respect to the revenue records along with the total assets, Apple is the largest information technology company all over the world and the second largest mobile manufacturing company throughout the globe. It has been found that in the current 2016, there are more than billion actively used products and services of Apple in the whole world. 1.4 Research problem Any of the research is been carried out with the occurrence of any of the issues with the purpose to overcome with the same and come up with new solutions. The primary issue being found was to evaluate the influences of the social media and the online advertisements on the consumer behaviours. It is very important aspect to be focused as being a multinational company Apple Inc got failed to promote itself towards the buying behaviours of the customers. The customers are not much aware and generally ignore the products and services of Apple, especially the new products which are launched by the company. It has been identified that it is very much essential to make an existence on the diverse sources of social media with the purpose to perform online advertising and approach maximum number of customers. It has been stated that the company must spread awareness among the customers about their products and services as neglecting this issue would cost the company at large. It has been observed that social media and internet in the present time covers almost 90% of the business activities and if the company avoids adopting these sources would lead to great concerns. In addition to this, it has become a serious issue that the competitors of Apple had already emerged to the social media sources and had achieved success in influencing the customers to the great extent. The lack of online presence of Apple would lead towards the negative image in the consumer behaviours and would also result in the decline in the sales along with the market shares of the company. It has been identified that this issues had laid an impact on Apple to the large extent. It has been found that a drop of nearly about 6.3% in the profit had been recorded in the last financial year along with the 2.3% decline in the market share of the company in the industry. However, the amount looks very much minor but an organisation with revenue collection of approximately billion acquires a great concerns. Evans (2012) had identified that this decline is mainly observed on the online stores which is due to its less existence on social media and poor online advertisement strategies. On the contrary to this, it 5

11 have been found that in the last financial years the competitor companies of Apple like Google, Dell, blackberry, etc had achieved great success with these sources and had performed very well. 1.5 Aims and objectives of the study Aims and objectives are the most important aspects which provides with the set motive to move towards the success. These aims motivate an individual to make the best efforts and strive hard towards the accomplishment of them. The investigator has planned to carry out the research with the aim to identify the issues that are being faced by the company Apple Inc principally allied to the improper strategy of social media marketing and online advertisements that influences the behaviour of the customers. Followings are the objectives that are being prepared by the researcher and will be meeting through the process of completing the research. To have a critical understanding of varied concepts of social media marketing and the online advertisement To critically investigate the different customer behaviour pattern To recognise the challenges that are faced by Apple Inc related to the improper social media and online advertisement marketing strategies To recommend solutions in order to tackle the challenges faced by Apple Inc 1.6 Research question In order to address the issues related to social media marketing and online advertisement the researcher has prepared certain questions which will be answered through the completion of the research. Following are the set of question: Q1. What is the concept of social media marketing and online advertisement? Q2. How far the social media marketing and online advertisement is related to customer behaviour? Q3. What are the potential challenges to implement social media marketing and online advertisement strategies? Q4. What are the possible solutions for Apple Inc in order to overcome the identified problems? 6

12 1.7 Rationale of the study The present research will help the researcher to identify the prime factors and reasons that are affecting Apple Inc in terms of their social media marketing as well the online advertisement which to leads to affect the behaviour of the customers towards the company. It is only possible for the researcher to give proper solution for the problems after identifying the right issues. This particular research has been carried out with the intention to learn more knowledge about the impacts of the social media and online advertisements on the consumer behaviours. The research would focus on these aspects with respect of the functionalities of the Apple Company. The current study would assist in finding out the sources through which Apple would mitigate with its issues and establish its brand among the consumers. It would support in finding out the ways in which the customers could be approached at the large platforms. In addition to this, the study would be leading towards the achievement of the objectives in an effective manner and would also enhance the brand awareness among the people. This study would support several scholars, students and researchers to collect knowledge and findings about the social media marketing and online advertisements. Furthermore, the research would also help in analysing the possible challenges to be faced by the company in implementing the online marketing strategies. It would also help Apple Inc in mitigating the issues effectively and enhancing its productivity and sustain the market share. In this study, the researcher has accumulated many of the aspects which could influence the buying behaviours of the customers and lead towards the profitability to the company. The study would also discuss the probable solution to the company which could be implemented by Apple and come up with the new effective strategies and gain higher revenues out of it. 1.8 Significance of the study The present study acquires a special significance with respect to the subject matter of the social media marketing and online advertisements for a company. It is a widespread aspect which covers the crucial aspects of information technology industry. This provides with the way in which Apple Inc could move and could enhance its sales revenue and the success rates. The major significance of this particular study is to gain understanding about the impact of social media marketing and online advertisements on the behaviours of customers of Apple Inc particularly. The business activities or strategies affects the entire industry and would lead towards the decline of the organisation as well. The major intention behind this research is to 7

13 evaluate various impacts and find out the reasons as how to mitigate with those impacts while moving out the business. There is a vital significance to the researcher as to know the benefits and the drawbacks of the social media marketing could influence the customers and the business as well. The study would be beneficial to all those who are connected by one and the other ways from social media marketing and are willing to expand their businesses through online advertisements. This particular study would provide with new ideas to the scholars and the researchers with respect to the influences of the social media and the online advertisement strategies on the business. There is a primary importance of this study to increase the knowledge and awareness about the online marketing activities while influencing the consumer at large extent. This study would provide a wide range of learning and knowledge of the online marketing strategies and solutions to mitigate through the identified issues by Apple Inc respectively. The strategies of making the customers aware about the brand and influencing their buying behaviour with the help of social media marketing and online advertisements would be revealed through this study. Moreover, it would help out the researcher to draw an effective conclusion and the findings out of the whole study and would be able to recommend more to bring improvements in the functionalities of Apple Inc. 1.9 Research methodology The research methodology is a major section for the study. The part has significant value for researcher to indentify techniques and appropriate tools to deliver the complete report. It provides an appropriate manner which is very helpful for carrying out a particular topic research. The aspect initiates an effective conclusion by the study. The researcher has undergone several tools to undertake the present research. According to this investigation, researcher builds positivity in philosophy to test various hypotheses (Scott, 2015). This investigation is used to test several different variables which are enhancing with retention of strategies. The researcher practises various approaches because it is needed to study and analyse theories anticipated by scholars as per recommended strategies. The theories are further optimized by comparison process where it has been compared by recent studies. These kinds of research are based on mixed finding and adapt two research methods i.e. qualitative and quantitative. The findings are necessary to undergone both the methods has got spontaneous and logical approach to bridge the gap between qualitative and quantitative research technique (Van Dijck, 2013). The methods are 8

14 helping out the researcher to draw complete study at each and every angle. The researchers have preferred descriptive research design. The technique is valuable for quantitative researches. While undertaking the research, the data should be collected from primary and secondary resources. While collecting the data from primary resources the surveyor and interview techniques should be grasp by investigator. To collect secondary data, it is necessary to optimize it from public sources like journals, books, website and social media. Both the investigation are carried out by using a software tool i.e. SPSS (Maxwell, 2012). It simplifies the study of some approaches related to it. It analyses the techniques undergone investigation about variable by pie charts and bar graph, frequency distribution, cross tabulation and ANOVA test. The test is a practical approach to understand associated and non-associated variables. It is applied to influence the workers of Apple Inc and acquire their preferences with respect to the topic Structure of the study In order to carry out a research in a systematic and effective manner it is very important to have a well build structure as well. While going through the study the investigator had segmented the entire research in five major sections. These sections would contribute in the achievement of the objectives and accomplish the study in the desired manner. The study would be commenced with the Introduction part which would include the overview of the entire study depicting its aims and objectives and the desired outcomes. It would also cover the background of the study and its significance to the subject matter. The first section of the study also discusses about the research problem, question, rationale and the methodology. The next section of this study is the Literature Review in which the investigator has undergone through the previous researches which have been carried out by the renowned researcher with respect to the same topic. It covers the aspects of various theories depicting the relevance of social media and online advertisements particularly. The literature review would also include the basic concepts and understanding related to the impacts of social media and online marketing on the consumers. This section would also assist the researcher in framing a string theoretical basis for the whole study. Research Methodology is the next section which is being carried out in the study. This part would discuss about the procedures and ways the research is to be carried out. Suitable tools and techniques for the evaluation of the study would be identified in the section with respect to the present subject matter. In this particular section, adequate amount of justification related to the adoption of specific methods of carrying out the study would be 9

15 presented. Furthermore, the fourth section is Data Analysis and Interpretation of the study. This section is been considered as the most important part for any of the researcher carrying out a study as it assists in extracting the relevant conclusion and findings out of the study effectively. In this section the investigator evaluates or analyse the collected data with the help of primary sources making use of questionnaire technique. The final section of this study would be the Conclusions and Recommendations. This section would be providing with the solutions of the objectives of the study which have been formulated at the initiation of the study. it would provide with the recommendations for the future scope of the research with respect to the concerned topic and would help the researcher reach to the final result. 10

16 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The unique characteristics of social media and the popularity that it has gained in the past few years have brought forth a revolution in the practices pertaining to marketing. Social media has changed the way an organisation promotes their products or advertises for the same. Social media has also been observed to have an impact on the behaviour of a consumer from the acquisition of data from the behaviour post purchasing a product such as statements of dissatisfaction and their pattern of usage of the Internet (Faulds and Mangold, 2014). Social Media can be termed to be a group of applications based on the internet, which helps in building the technological and ideological foundation laid by the Web 2.0. Social Media also allows for the exchange and creation of the content generated by the users. The advantages that are prevalent with the social media are it helps in connecting the business of an organisation with its intended customers. Social media also helps in the development of the relationships and providing methods for fostering those new relationships at a low cost and periodic manner (Schirr, 2013). Some of the other functions pertaining to social media involve its influence and effect on the perception of an individual, their attitude and their final behaviour at the end. In an environment over the internet, it has been stated that individuals prefer the ideas pertaining to creation, contribution and joining of communities for fulfilling the needs for belonging, being connected socially and for being recognised or in simple terms enjoy the interactions with other individuals of the same type. The Social media websites provides the organisations an opportunity for engaging and interacting with the current and potential consumers for the organisation. This helps in creating an increased sense pertaining to intimacy in the relationship that exists between the organisation and the customer (Noreen and Han, 2015). Social media also helps an organisation in building up meaningful and important relationship with their current as well as potential consumers in the market. In the present market conditions, there is a risk that an organisation shall loose the loyalty of its customers based on even the simplest of mistake on their part. In the age of the internet, this can be propagated as an unfortunate event, wherein an individual encountered a specific service or product of a certain company or a brand. Some of the organisations in the present market are starting to notice the advantages of using social media 1

17 in their business plans. There already has been development in social media marketing. This has led to the development of social networking websites for many organisations. These websites already have specific functions of allowing the customers to exchange information pertaining to the services and products of the organisation. The networking sites have an additional feature of allowing the customers to engage in acts of co-creation of the products and services for the organisation (Hudson and Thal, 2013). The social networking sites for the corporate aim to cocreate values based on the online experiences with the outcomes being available offline, with the involvement of both the potential as well as the current customers of the organisation. 2.2 Social Media The concept of Web 2.0 and social media are interrelated to each other, yet they cannot be considered to be identical to each other. The difference in the terms is due to the nature of the utilisation of the concepts. Thus there is a need to define the two terms in details. Web 2.0 is the revolution in business brought forth in the computer industry due to the usage of Internet in the form of a platform. An attempt was made for understanding the rule pertaining to success brought forth by the new inventions and platform. Web is considered to be a platform wherein applications and contents are being modified at a continuous rate and is being exchanged among all the users across the system in collaborative or participatory manner. The data is not anymore published or created by a single individual in the system (Vinerean et al., 2013). There has been number of debates and discussions pertaining to the proper definition of the term social media. This is because social media has been converted slowly into an integral and ever-growing form of media. It is said that social media is based on the interconnection of various aspects, such as, content, communication media and social interaction. Various dimensions pertaining to communication flow or socialisation of the information has been provided by the Social Media. It is now easier to channel information all over, by the use of social media, useful and important information now can be spread with a larger audience group more efficiently. This leads to effective communication between various audiences and has an effect worldwide. The following figure shall provide us with an idea of the components that are involved in Social Media. 2

18 Figure: Utilization of Social Media Source: (Zhang and Mao, 2016) The social media helps in providing a platform for individuals from various geographic areas and different communities to come together by the use of Internet. The individuals gathered on the platform share their knowledge and opinions, by using various sources and other chatty sites (Atwong, 2015). In simple words, social media portrays the new methods of laying emphasis and facilitating the methods involved in commenting, creating, editing and sharing. 2.3 Development of Social Media Marketing In the recent time it has been seen that there is increased popularity of social media networking at a global level. One of the social media site Facebook has got billions of active users since its beginning in the period of 2004 (Carlsson, 2010). The social media sites are said to be the network that are used by individuals for building social and professional interactions. Indeed, it could be said that online social media has become a platform that has changed the propagation of information that could be shared easily and can be helpful in digesting the information on the internet. Even it has been seen that unique practice lay down by social media 3

19 and its immense popularity for revolutionizing marketing practices such as advertising and promotion. As per Cha, (2009) stated that social media has become a platform that has helped in influencing the behaviour of consumer from the access of information to post-purchase behaviour concerning dissatisfaction statements or behaviours and patterns that have been used in order to access the internet. There are many advantageous that are helpful for connecting business to consumers, relationship development and fostering those relationships in a timely manner that too in a lower cost. Other functions that can be laid down in relation to social media has got the involvement of affecting and influencing perceptions considering attitudes and end behaviour, while bringing out like-minded people together. Within the online environment it has been observed that individuals like the idea with respect to contribution, creation and joining of communities for fulfilling the needs of belongingness (Flagler, 2011). It even helps them to get connected socially and recognized or simply to enjoy the interactions to be carried out concerning like-minded members. Social media laying down higher level of efficiency in comparison to traditional communication channels have been encouraging industry leaders to participate through different social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and others helping out business to succeed their working in an online environment (Richins, 2009). Hence, it has been observed that more of the industries are trying to get benefited from social media as it help in developing strategy that can be helpful in managing other s strategy or follow other direction. Further, it could be laid down that social media has been providing an opportunity to the business, so that they are able to get engaged and interact with their potential and current consumers. It helps in encouraging increased sense of intimacy for building up the consumer relationship with the customer. It could be especially be undertaken in an business environment that could lose the loyalty of the customer if a business incurs smallest of mistake. 2.4 Social Media concept and its dimensions As per Homburg.et.al., (2009) it has been said that social media is an aspect that has been merging within the lives of individuals in tremendous faster pace through various different areas. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), lays down an explanation concerning social media essence, meaning and origin. While carrying out discussion with respect to social media there is a need for laying down importance towards two related concepts that are Web 2.0 and User Generated Content. In the period of 2004 there was emergence of Web 2.0 in order to illustrate the new way 4

20 that has been adopted by software developers and end users started operating with the World Wide Web. This is seen to be a platform whose content is not modified by single individual, but by various users in a collaborative manner. The examples that can be drawn with respect to application that are in respect to Web 2.0 group are composed of blogs, wikis and collaborative projects. In this regard it could be said that it leaves behind all the personal web pages and Britannica Online Encyclopaedia that is on the platform of Web 1.0. In the conclusion it has been stated by researcher that Web 2.0 is seen to be a platform that has helped in the evolution of social media (Kaplan, Haenlein, 2010). Even Kotler and Keller, (2006) indicated that collaborative projects are seen to be the simplest type concerning social media. It has been allowing user to add, change or remove text that are text based content. Even it has been observed that through the collaborative efforts concerning different users the information lay down by various sources of social media is seen to be more reliable. In this regard one of the projects that could be seen is collaborative project Wikipedia. It is seen to be a free, online encyclopaedia that has written on the basis of efforts that have been laid down by volunteers and can be accessed by any individuals through Internet access. Another social media representative that can be considered is Blogs. They have been allowing user to carry out their publication and participation by creating multithread conversation using online channel (Weber, 2009). For an organization it has been said that blogs are crucial as it helps in enhancing their reputation in case of positive blogging and at the similar point of time they can laid down affect on the reputation of the enterprise through negative blogging. Further, it has been seen that content communities are the people who have been laying down opportunity for sharing the media content among each other (Saunders.et.al., 2009). In case of media content there is exchange of videos (You Tube), photos (Flicker) or even PowerPoint presentations (Slide Share). In respect to content communities users it has generally been observed that they do not create a profile page, but lays down some sort of personal record with respect to recent and overall activity. It has been seen that for the enterprise content communities are seen to be a great thread because of the chance that they can make use as a platform in order to share copyright materials (Kaplan, 2010). In case of social networking sites it has been seen that they have been following content communities in order to review social media types. These are the sites that help individuals to connect so that they are able to share 5

21 information, photos, videos and instant message. Even it is a media that helps out people for inviting friends to get accessed to some useful information. The two important social networking sites that are seen to be popular are Facebook and Twitter. Even in the present scenario it has been seen that business has been switching to Facebook platform so that they are able to build appropriate bond with their consumer (Trusov.et.al., 2009). On the other hand, Twitter is seen to be a media channel that has got a free social network and micro blogging service allowing people to read and exchange text based posts and the text cannot be more than 140 characters. Even such post is named to be tweets. 2.5 Types of Social Media According to previous studies and literature associated with social media, it has been discovered that social media has been categorized into five different segments Social News Social Bookmarking sites or any sites pertaining to Social News are very much alike to each other and are highly popular in the social community over the internet. Social News provides the people on the internet with the facility of not only organising their news feeds, but also enabling an individual s to vote and submit content all over the Web. Although special significance is laid on the concept of voting content, as it enables an individual to collect any interesting link over the internet, which they wish to visit again at a later time. The social news websites also provides the individuals online with links to other popular networking websites, which have been visited and explored by a large number of citizens. Social News websites have completely transformed the image of a newspaper. These websites brings the individual to the forefront (Chan and Yazdanifard, 2014). The sites give power to the users in aspect of choosing their personal news feeds or any form of targeted news. The websites also brings a user at the focal point of free interaction or debate Social Networking Sites (SNS) Social Networking Sites or SNS provides a user with the facility of connecting to other individuals having similar backgrounds or interests. One of the foremost Social Networking Site in the present world is Facebook. The general features which have been observed to be present in all social networking sites have been stated as herein below: 6

22 The customers of the social networking sites have the ability to make profiles that are interactive in nature. The sites form a catalogue and recommends friends to the user based on their background and preferences. The users have the ability of perusing the list of recommended friends from not only the system but from other users in the system as well. For many users, the websites are regarded to be similar to any outlet. These offers those the chances needed for accumulation of wealth and for establishment of a close connection with the commodity by the use of various techniques and methods. Social networks are been considered as the most recent trends for interacting landscape. It provides transparency among the audience. In present scenario, it increases globalization of market. A new analysed market has been shaped on social media which identify preferable fashion and lovable trends of the audience (Kaplan, Haenlein, 2010). Social networking sites are also a wider platform to debate on issues so that top level management concludes with a decision. The review states that SNS encompasses sustainable connection among the people and maintain cyber citizenship Media Sharing Sites Websites that are used for the sharing of media, such as YouTube or Flickr, are the channels, which offer the individuals with the ability of saving media files such as videos and pictures and many more. These saved files can be shared by the individual with other members associated with the online community. There is availability of prospects due to the linkages to these websites, as specific locations within the sector of social media there is an iron grip on the online communities having access to inexpensive technologies. One of the major aspects of any website specializing in sharing of media is that it needs to underline the tag. The tag is term that is associated with the content that is being shared. The tag helps in providing a general description of the media, which is being shared on these websites (Chen, Fay and Wang, 2011). This also helps in improving the efficiency of the search algorithm that are employed by various search engines as the businesses have to understand the importance associated with the key words that are used by the search engines for searching specific contents associated with the term. The media sharing sites also provide backup of the file. They also allow sharing audio and video from cloud storage. Web browsers allow accessing the media files. By convergence of social media network, the posted content flow at multiple platforms and the public looks for entertainment. By this two collective intelligence entertainment is coping up with information. Media files are been build by attractive features to gain new consumer every day. 7

23 Social media has three mentioned characteristics. The first one is interactive, it extent the meaning about the content which act as mediator in real time environment. It described that users generally share common interest video, photos and text or any past experience. The second characteristic is customisation. It means that every consumer of different sites is treated differently. Thus, a user can easily access relevant information with few efforts. It is also useful to increase buying process by social media. The last characteristic is social interaction. It is defined as communication between friends and family (Chen, Fay and Wang, 2011). Taking everything into conclusion, it is summarised that social media convert the simple platform into information influencing platform. The study had also reviewed that social media is a group of applications which is based on internet. Applications are ideologically a technological. The idea allows users to exchange the information among them. The idea is explained by an example news sharing on social media is recognising a variety of disciplines. The computer science studied to develop models who predict popularity, information cascades and rate of adoption by social media. Their main motive is to engage with news sharing (Weber, 2009). The implication leads to political participants on social site Micro Blogging Micro Blogging websites enables an individual to share their message via any medium such as mobile phones or internet or the . Micro Blogging is a form of information network, which is almost similar in nature to that of a Blog. The only difference between a Blog and a Micro Blogging Website is that, in a micro blogging website, the word limit for a message is limited, unlike in any Blogging Website (Veeck and Hoger, 2014). Such quick methods of communication using Micro Blogging is quite prevalent in the present society. Twitter is the foremost micro blogging site over the internet at present. Twitter was launched on the internet in the year of Since its launch it has transformed into a global network, comprising of over 140 million global users and is stated to handle around 1.6 billion micro blogs in a day. It has been observed that various firms and organisation are operating on Twitter for expanding their business sphere. This also helps them in influencing, in some way or the other, the decisions that the customer s make by forming a relationship with their customers over the internet. 8

24 Micro blogs are updated micro post which can be informal communication, learning and knowledge. Moreover the way of propagation is increased by video recordings. It is more valuable for the company to generate the notification of upcoming meetings of the company and communication among co-workers Blogs Blogs are said to be good in creating hubs for marketing tools for social media, such as hyperlinks, picture, videos and many more. This is possible as the added information can be attached with the posts that are being made on a blog platform. Moreover software that is associated with blog provides additional features such as blog rolls, comments, subscriptions and trackbacks. Blogs provides an individual with the permission to connect in an online debate while circulating through the internet (Zhang and Mao, 2016). The posts that are made on the blogging platforms have a possibility of impacting the products, personal or the reputation of a brand. The blogs are frequently updated associated with linking social sites. A weblog contains entries of articles or text in reverse chronological order i.e. from most recent to oldest on. The weblogs are easy to maintain and the technology is free for the creator. Weblog is widely spread if the people read the blog and agree to the contents of blogs they just like, throw comments, and add blog link to their own blog. If the people do not like the blogger points of view then they stop visiting the blog again (Zhang and Mao, 2016). It has been identified that blogs are medium to share opinions and share personnel experience to the audience. The corporate blogs are used for marketing of business models. These blogs attach a questionnaire and trying to get the answer on each aspect by communication and discussion. Such chain of discussion is important to analyse the perception and gives review to the company. 2.6 Social Media and Branding According to Cheong & Morrison, (2008) it has been said that branding is a term that has varied definition and concept in the world. In contemporary marketing it is a term that is termed to be very broad. In the present days it has been identified that brand are used as symbols that has been allowing customers in order to make difference between producers and trace quality with respect to the product back to the manufacturer as it helps out organization to compete 9

25 successfully within the market. In this regard they must be occupied with brand that is composed of various characteristic (Bertilsson, 2009). All these aspects come to a conclusion that while considering the social media marketing there is a need for laying down focus on branding as an essential and huge part. As per Edelman, (2010) brand is termed to be a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them that is intended for identifying particular sort of goods and services in relation to one seller when compared to other seller, so that they can differentiate a group of sellers from their market competitors. There are three significant roles that have been played by a brand. Firstly, it helps organization to attract new consumer for carrying out their operations. Secondly, it indicates about a reminder to customers with respect to organization product and services. Finally, brand can be essential in order to have an emotional tie up of consumer and the business. Moreover, the attitude of a consumer towards a brand will be playing a great role in business in order to lay down efforts for moving the organization in a profitable path. It is because of the fact that stringer brand will be helpful in gaining competitive advantage and for leading their position within a particular sector. It is the reason why strong brand image can help firms in gaining competitive advantage in order to lead their positions within a particular sector (Kim et.al.2008). There is no surprise that many of the organization either large or small have got their access to different social media channel in order to respond towards a negative feedback in relation to business brand or products (McDonald & Sharp, 2003). Thus, it could be said that social media and branding undertake their activities hand in hand. Even it could be seen that social networking is taking branding to new dimensions that has been helped in offering quicker deployment and return of information. Hence, it is considered to be a significantly cheaper platform when compared with traditional marketing and a channel that can be used by individuals in order to get into conversations in relation to brand and in this particular way they can spread information in a more effective manner (Chordas, 2009). It has also been proved that majority of social media platforms have been turning into important branding mechanisms. It has been indicated by different researchers that various social networking channel has helped in building fans of a brands online and have been laying down positive attitude rather than a negative one (Chordas, 2009). It cannot be a case always with respect to positive word of mouth. Even there are few researchers who have laid down their focus of their working towards negative word of mouth and consumer dissatisfaction. The consequences that can be seen with respect to 10

26 various kinds of marketing communication are seen to be in majority of the cases and are crucial for the enterprise. In the period of 1983 it has been found by Richins that around 30% to 90% of the consumers are seen to be dissatisfied and don t carry out the purchase of the brand gain and even 34% of these individuals have been sharing their dissatisfaction with their friends and family. The above dictated research has been carried out in the period 80 s it has still got the value in the today s time as with the emergence of social media the spreading of information is seen to be in a much easier and affordable manner. It has been seen that media has helped in laying down the opportunities for the organization, so that they are able to spread the information with respect to brand to a consumer in a faster pace and also helps in building appropriate relationship with them (Percy, 2008). However, consumer has been connecting with their brands in newer ways that is seen to be different from various traditional media through various media channels. These are seen to be the facts that are seen to be necessary in the adaptation of traditional marketing strategies for building new relationship with consumers and the brands (Edelman, 2010). Even it has been observed that now a day s major focus of market research is seen to be more of consumer oriented than product oriented as it was seen to be in past periods. Further, it has been seen that marketers have lay down their concern in relation to consumer attitudes and behaviours and to test a way that how a particular brand or product gets fit into a particular individuals lives (Guosong Shao, 2008). Even it can be noticed that social media and branding are seen to be mutually connected, but still there is an aspect that is required to be taken into consideration. In a situation when business have been applying social media for the purpose of branding then in that case platform it uses must be implemented in a smarter and professional way. Thus, the message it lay down to a consumer must be consistent, well defined and generating actions (Chordas, 2009). Social media branding strategy There are some social media branding strategy to amplify the results (Edelman, 2010). The strategies are given below- There are hundreds of social media network and each social network won t be fit for the company aspects. The foremost job of the company is to find targeting social network which increases the brand image of the company. 11

27 Visual presentation plays an important role on social media branding. The branding must be consistent at all the social channels. For example Coca-Cola Company on Facebook, twitter and instagram maintain company profile by colour consistency on each network. The company profile is shown by vibrant red- white colour. The symbol presents the association to a particular company. Thus it is necessary to use same logo on each social site to represent the organisation. To attract the visitors the images should be organised and consistent. To make them more attractive, brand may use templates. Unique tools templates are made by Canva tool. The personality of brand is reflected on how a brand represents itself on social sites. The voice of company must be unambiguous and contains complete information about what a company is about, what it is offers and the things which make the brand special from competitors. The voice of the proposed product must be fit for the brand. For example- huggies and Taco Bell s voice are genuine to their brand. The company should publish some articles and wealthy feedbacks. for examplemonster.com which is a popular career site regularly tweets article about customer satisfaction and their career growth. So it gains the interest of people. 2.7 Attitude formation Attitude is seen to be an aspect that is essential in relation to individual s personality. This is something that every individual human being has got. Different individuals have their own way to express their different attitudes. Under this some of the individuals will be having an attitude of loving, hating, agreeing or disagreeing. Even there will be some who will be accepting what is happening within the life others don t. The things that keep them attached are concerning the fact that they are all under the reinforcement of attitude change. Even it has been seen that such an aspect constantly happen around us in one or the other form such as marketing communication, Internet or seen to be under the effect of social media (Bohner & Wanke, 2002). Attitudes has got a significant importance as it helps in outlining perception of peoples on their overall perception in relation to the world and have been laying down influencing on their future behaviour (Crano & Prislin, (2008). The attitudes has got the potential of elicit affective, behavioural or cognitive responses. It is all about the emotions that an individual carries, others by believes and last is to be straight forward having greater tendency to act. It has been seen that 12

28 branding is a concept that is a very broad term. However, the present research is going to have a deeper research as it will be helpful in taking brand attitude perspective and effectiveness of social media, so that there is creation of positive attitude of consumers toward brands. The concept of attitudes is seen to be very important not only in psychology but also in branding. Even it has been observed that are various number of researchers who have laid down special attention to it. They have also stated that brand attitude is seen to be an essential step in order to build brand equity (Gallaugher, 2010). Once, manager of the business is able to build strong brand equity then it is going to provide the business with many of the advantageous. It is mainly composed of increased loyalty of consumer, effective marketing communication, positive attitude for setting out higher prices of product, higher possibility in brand extension success and it has also got many other advantageous that are to be laid down against the competitors (Homburg.et.al, 2009). The proper definition that can be laid down with respect to brand attitude is all about consumers overall evaluation in relation to a particular brand. It has also been observed that attitude of brand is seen to be very important as it helps in giving a basis for a consumers behaviour and lays down answer with respect to peoples thinking with respect to a product or service. Even it helps in answering to the question that whether product is able to meet the needs of consumer and the way product is wanted, appreciated or recommended by consumer. 2.8 Theories on social media Interactionism Theory Symbolic Interactionism theory as stated by Mead is used for describing the methods in which people give shape to their individuality and authenticate the informal norms by interacting with other individuals. There has been constant change in the methods through with people interact with each other. But this theory has stood the test of time and is even applicable in the modern world of interaction using the digital media. If the theory pertaining to symbolic Interactionism is applied on social media, then the following can be postulated, that the users of present in the communities of the social media form their individuality and offers a large sphere in establishment of correlation. This theory is important as it helps in examining how social media affects the buying decision and behaviour of an individual. 13

29 2.8.2 Symbolic Interactionism Theory The Theory pertaining to Symbolic Interactionism comprises of three basic principles, which narrates as to how individuals interact among themselves by the use of language, meaning and their thoughts for creation of their self (Mishra, Narendra Kumar and Sharma, 2012). Interactions are considered to be the focal point in the development of an individual s social identity and associate functions as per the norms and the values. Elaborations are method on the methods using which an individual forms the social truth. The method and technique that an individual uses for working with other individuals is based on the sense that the individual has allocated on the various relations. The language is considered to be a medium, which is used for the assigning the meaning. The language is used for allocating a specific sense of perception for anything. Perception based on inference of the language can either be positive in nature or negative in nature. The thought process is the final step, which arises during the deciphering of the language and their associated perception. IT has been stated that at the point of time when the three basic principles of language, meaning and thought arises, that is an indication of the formation of self within an individual in the community (Jones and van Putten, 2008). This theory by Mead was presented before the advent of the web or the internet. Although the principles of the theory is very much applicable to the interactions that are taking place by the use of social media. For example, and analysis of a Facebook page based on the principles by Mead will help us in understanding the process of creation of the self. The theory of Symbolic Interactionism has a major role in the formation of the profiles that are seen on Facebook and also is involved in the methods that helps an individual on social media to discover their own identity while interaction over the internet Hype-Symbolic Interactionism Theory The theory of Hyper-Symbolic Interactionism is a modification of the theory present by Mead on Symbolic Interactionism Theory for the social media. The modification in the theory was required as Mead had formulated the initial theory before the introduction of Internet. Hyper-Symbolic Interactionism is a theory that helps in explaining the creation of a unique and new reality, dependent on the symbols that are found in the digital environment. The theory consists of the minutes of symbols ranging from the 1 s and 0 s of the computer language to the smallest of the pixels found in digital images, along with the pixels found in the contemporary and complex images pertaining to the advertisements and the various 14

30 commercials, which are being produced on a daily basis. The imagery and the larger form of symbols that are being created by these details are leading to the creation of new norms and values, which are different in nature as compared to the norms and values of the non-digital communities (Lim, Chung and Weaver, 2012). The new digital community comprises of advertisers and marketers, whose actions have a direct effect on the constructs of reality of an individual. The affect is felt on the values and norms that an individual abides to, along with affecting the meaning that we assign to various symbols that we observe. Our methods of socialising in the digital realm are different than the methods that we use for socialising in the real world. Moreover, the increase in the advertising and promotional activities in the digital format has caused us to have a perception that the ads and the marketers are real in nature. A bird s eye view has been provided herein, which portrays the relationship that exists between the behaviour of a consumer and social media. It has been observed that 20% of the users who are using Facebook, uses the site for collecting information pertaining the commodity that they want to purchase, other studies indicated that 42% of individuals online, enquired about a specific commodity by the use of various online options. Through previous studies, it is possible to segment the social media consumers as high sharers and low sharers. The high sharers are the individuals, among which it has been observed that 20% are teenagers, who are devoted towards brands and are possession of various electronic gadgets. The low sharers are the individuals, among which 80% have been observed to be older people, who are rather interested in the quality of a product instead of the brand of a product. 2.9 Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Behaviour It has been noted that the methods of shopping has changes significantly in the past few decades. During the period of traditional methods of marketing, it has been observed that the customers had the habit of shopping at physical outlets, but the same methods of purchasing were applied. However, with the advent of modern communication technologies and the internet, the customers have gained the power of shopping through various portals available over the internet. Thus it can be stated that marketing through social media has an important role to play in the various aspects of the life of an individual. According to the present conditions, it is being observed that the customers are increasing their utilisation of technology; especially Social Media is being used for influencing the decision and perception of an individual. Social Media is 15

31 considered to be an effective and powerful tool that is helping spread the trend of online shopping (Liu and Lopez, 2014). During the analysis of the perception of the consumers towards the marketing presented by Social Media, it is pertinent to discuss regarding the different types of customers, influenced by the Social Media. While adhering to the present situation in the industry, it is being analysed that the consumers have an important role to play on the phase of the market place. Additionally, the consumers can be termed as the actors or the individuals, who are using the various products either offline or online. Similarly, it is also necessary that discussion is done on the reasons pertaining to the customers preference of usage of social media as a medium for purchasing various products. As it has been observed in earlier studies, the significant fact pertaining to visit various websites is for interacting with other individuals to fulfil the needs and purpose of an individual. The factors of the social media that plays a major role in influencing the behaviour of a customer are the design factors, product factors, information factors, psychological factors and cultural factors Social media and consumer Social media as a mean of giving consumers a voice Possible components involved in the consumer decision process have been explained in the earlier part. The natures, features and essence of social media are also discussed in the earlier part. Researchers believe that social media influences the purchase decision of consumer these days. Social media plays a vital role from the point of search to post purchase stage. According to Dew & Kwon (2009) social media engages customers and has become growing marketing channel. This section discusses the effect of social media on customers. It also suggests marketers to tap the phase of purchase process which influence the purchase decision most. Erkan & Birol (2011) describes information processing theory of consumer choice. According to this theory there are various advertisements which compete among themselves to influence the customer most. Wang et al. (2010) describes that even if the marketers communicate right message to target consumer, it is impossible for consumer to remember it. Social media plays an important role of receiving, giving and exchanging information. It also enables two way communications between company and consumer. The flow of 16

32 communication influences the way companies target the end consumer. It influences throughout the process of communication from interpreting the message to purchase action. According to Rust et al. (2005) the barriers in the flow of communication are mis-interpretation, rejection of message and misunderstanding. Aaker & Robert (2001) discuss the biggest fear of companies and brands in context of social media marketing is to give up the control over frequency and content of information thus, it has become more significant for marketers to realize and discuss the content and transparency of company. Thus, social media provides a platform to consumer to post their experience, ideas and information related to product, service or brands. The experience can be positive and negative. The people sharing common experience get connected on social media to support the view. The aim of customer is not to create marketing of product but the activity of customers on social media acts as word-of-mouth The Influences on Decision Making Process Delighting and service to customers has become the centre point for business. Blackshaw & Nazzaro (2006) believes that social media influences the brand awareness, sales and loyalty. Thus, social media influences the forecast and prediction of marketers. Raman (2009) describes that social media marketing report depicts the increasing attraction of social media and value of social media in business. The time-honoured buying behaviour process theory is influenced by social media as new component influencing buying behaviour. Now, the buying behaviour is not only influenced by traditional factors but also by online platforms. The factors influencing decision making and preferences are inputs provided by parties not in control of marketers like referrals, peer review, social network, blogs and other forms of user-generated content. Aurial & Saniscalco (2005) suggested on the basis of Kotler framework, an innovative stimuli and response model due to increasing use of social media. Traditional marketing mix affects consumer buying decision such as ads on TV, radio and newspaper. There are other uncontrollable stimuli such as societies, values, perception, demographics, etc. Further, the marketers cannot control the social media experience and online marketing mix such as banners, s, corporate websites, etc. Barwise & Meehan (2010) describes that contents of social media are neutral and democratic. Various types of social media are becoming popular among consumers for searching information and making purchase decision. Chen & Wang (2011) discuss that reviews and user- 17

33 generated contents on social media such as books, movie, music review and other things influences the attributes and consumer purchase decision. More than 25% social media users pay attention to ad shared on social media. Additionally, social media users find it suitable that the ads are tailored on the basis of their profile information. Berthon.et al (2000) studies that individual trust content of social network sites which are distil, objective and filtered. The classic purchase funnel model explains the impact of social media on purchase decision by consumer and the phase of purchase process which marketers can tap. On the basis of research conducted by Bertilsson (2009), it can be concluded that different marketing channels influences the purchase decision of consumer, especially in case of online purchase. The research study also shows that social media serves as a medium to create awareness in purchase process. Morrison & Cheong (2008) discuss that in this competitive environment, brands can create competitive advantage by marketing through blogs and posting videos on YouTube. Edelman (2010) describes that social media is applicable in purchase process as a medium to create awareness and support purchase decision. Social media play a significant role in maintaining and building a feedback loop. The impact of social media on purchase funnel is the transparency and accessibility of experiential data generated by current customers. From the point of view of consumer perspective and marketing, the usage of traditional channels has declined. But in triggering awareness, traditional media still plays an important role. Gallaugher (2010) describes the importance of feedback in purchase process. Consumer may find a product on TV ad and may search for its review on internet. Social media also serve a platform for post-purchase experience and act as word of mouth for product. Blakeman & Brown (2010) describes that user-generated content built u by the post purchase conversation is validated by collective wisdom of crowd. Traditional and modern media both influences the purchase decision of consumer but social media is in trend. Thus, marketers are also considering social media while understanding the purchase process of consumer. Social media provide the platform for feedback from consumer and it is a two way communication process where company communicates its message to end consumer and consumers provide feedback about their experiences related to product. Marketers should consider these feedbacks while formulating strategies to capture market. Thus, social media is applicable in purchase process as a medium to create awareness and support purchase decision. Social media play a significant role in maintaining and building a feedback loop. 18

34 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction Research methodology is been generally termed as the procedure being used for collecting the data and information in order to gain in-depth knowledge about any of the subject matter. It is defined as a well built structure being utilized by the researcher to carry out its study in an effective manner. The researcher provides special emphasis on this segment as it is been used for representing a well structured plan which the investigator could follow to attain the objectives of the study in an efficient manner. With respect to a study the research methodology informs the users about the techniques and methods being used in the study for achieving the desired objectives effectively (Lewis, 2015). The research methodology assists the readers in gaining enhanced understanding and knowledge regarding the ways in which the investigator had made efforts to acquire the desired outcomes. The basic elements which are been involved in the research methodology are research approach, research philosophy, research design, research type, sampling technique, data collection, data analysis, accessibility issues and ethical consideration and research limitations. These aspects are been discussed in detail in the study below. 3.2 Research onion The process of research onion includes the aspects where the investigator depicts the research methodology like an onion. This particular method is been followed from the external side to the internal side. The research onion mainly highlights the fundamental structure of the research methodology. Moreover, it also assists the investigator to carry out the study in a rationale or comprehensive manner. 3.3 Research philosophy As per Mackey and Gass, (2015), research philosophy is been concerned with the understanding and knowledge an investigator acquires regarding the subject matter in the study. However, the research philosophy depicts the state of mind of an investigator while carrying out the research properly. With the help of adequate knowledge of the research philosophy a reader is able to understand the capabilities of an investigator and gets an idea about how the study is 1

35 been undertaken. Research philosophy is been classified in three major sections i.e. positivism, interpretive and mixed research philosophy. Out of these one philosophy is been selected by the researcher to carry out the whole study. The research philosophy is been selected based in the knowledge and understanding of the researcher about the study. For instance, if the researcher is well acquainted with the subject matter positivism research philosophy would be selected. While if there is lack of knowledge and requires to have more understanding then interpretive research philosophy is been selected. In addition to this, research philosophy is also adopted according to the nature of the study (Maxwell, 2012). Thus, positivism research philosophy is been adopted in case the study is objective in nature while the study with subjective nature is been carried out with interpretive philosophy. In the current study the researcher had made use of the positivism research philosophy as the investigator acquire adequate amount of knowledge regarding the subject matter and the study is quantitative in nature. Justification note In the current study the researcher had adopted positivism philosophy due to its considerable understanding, knowledge and information about the topic of the study. In addition to this, this philosophy is been adopted because of the quantitative nature of the study. Even the investigator would be formulating certain hypothesis with the purpose to test the theories and the concepts being developed by the scholars and researcher with the help of the collected data from the secondary sources. 3.4 Research approach O'Leary, (2013) stated that research approach move hand in hand with the research philosophy of a study as both are interconnected with each other. Research approach is been also classified into two parts i.e. inductive research approach and the deductive research approach. Inductive research approach is been adopted for simplifying the study with the help of specific section. On the contrary to this, deductive research approach is been used in case of quantitative data collection and analysis along with the formation of the hypothesis in order to extract productive findings and conclusion out of the study (Ott and Longnecker, 2015). The positivism research philosophy and deductive research approach moves together and thus the researcher would make use of deductive research approach as positivism research philosophy is been applied to the study. 2

36 Justification note This study is been mainly concerned with the theoretical background which allows the investigator to make use of deductive approach with the purpose to conduct the study effectively. With the help of deductive approach the researcher had achieved a shift from the theoretical analysis to the hypothesis testing, confirmation and observation. Effective hypothesis has been developed by the researcher on the basis of the collected secondary data from different sources. With the intention to test the hypothesis the researcher had collected data from the primary sources throughout the study. 3.5 Research design According to Panneerselvam, (2014), research design is the outline of how the study is to be carried out. It has been found that research design is been divided in three major types such as casual relationship, exploratory and descriptive research design. Research design differs in each study as depends upon its application specifically. Research design mainly provides with the details as what the investigator actually desires to reveal or justify with the help of the study. With the help of the nature and objective of the study the researcher would adopt descriptive research design. This particular research design would be assisting in analyzing the impact of social media marketing and online advertisements on consumer behavior in detail and would lead towards the enhancement of the knowledge and understanding of the subject as well. Justification note With the purpose to conduct the current study the researcher would be undergoing to the descriptive research design as it would be framing a hypothesis over it. The major aim of this research is to understand and gain knowledge about the impact of social media marketing and online advertisements on consumer behavior with the help of descriptive research design or the hypothesis particularly. 3.6 Research type Research type is been concerned with the nature of the study being carried out by the investigator. Pickard (2012) stated that the nature of a particular study could be qualitative or quantitative. The research type is been determined according to the type of collected data as if the data is numerical and evaluated then the study is been determined as quantitative research. While if the data is non numerical and is evaluated with the thematic analysis it is been termed as 3

37 the qualitative type. In addition to this, the research type is also determined as per its nature as if the study is objective in nature it would include quantitative research while if the study is subjective then the qualitative aspect of the study would be considered. It has been observed that the researcher must adopt both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the research so that to identify more relevant and effective outcomes (Robson and McCartan, 2016). The present research would be carried out with the quantitative aspects as it includes numerical data and would be analyzed by implementing effective techniques. 3.7 Data Collection Methods With respect to conduct the research in an effective manner it is very important to collect the most relevant and reliable data from different sources. The data could be collected through primary or secondary sources or from both as per the requirements of the research. The primary data is the fresh or new data which has not been yet published anywhere while secondary data is the information collected through the sources which have already been published or is publicly known (Silverman, 2010). The primary data could be collected through various techniques such as interviews, questionnaire, focused groups, etc. On the contrary to this, the secondary data could be gathered from the sources like journals, websites, books, online articles, libraries, etc. The researcher in the current study would be making use of primary data which would be collected by questionnaire technique and the secondary data collected through books, journals, websites and online articles. These data would be focusing on the evaluation of the impacts of social media marketing and online advertisements on consumer behavior. Justification of primary data With the purpose to collect the primary data the investigator would be making use of the questionnaire technique. The current research is highly concerned with the consumer behavior towards social media marketing and thus requires knowing their perspectives to the large extent. Thus, the researcher would be adopting this technique in order to collect the data from the respondents in an effective manner. The data collected would be then utilized to carry out a suitable quantitative analysis with the help of SPSS tool. Justification of secondary data The secondary data is being collected by the researcher for the current study with the purpose to build a strong theoretical background. The collected data from the secondary sources 4

38 had been utilized to formulate effective hypothesis by the researcher in the study. The hypotheses are being framed on the basis of various models and theories stated by the renowned scholars and researchers in their past researches. 3.8 Sampling Method Sampling is been considered as an effective technique of extracting out a set of population representing the entire population as a whole. It has been found that it is a statistical method being carried to obtain data representation for a set of selective group. With the commencement of the research it is very important for the researcher to lay an emphasis on the selection of the suitable sample for the research process (Neuman and Robson, 2012). It has been found that there are mainly two types of sampling methods i.e. probability sampling and non probability sampling. Probability sampling: In probability sampling the entire population is been focused and acquires certain probability of getting selected. Probability sampling is been performed on the basis of quantitative data as it supports with the common perception of the company. There are various types of probability sampling techniques like simple random sampling, cluster sampling, stratified sampling, multistage sampling, systematic random sampling, etc. The major advantage of implementing the probability sampling technique is that it provides with the assurance that the selected sample would represent the entire population (Flick, 2015). It would make sure that the statistical findings and conclusion would be drawn effectively along with the valid and reliable facts into it. To carry out this the researcher had selected 57 feedbacks from the customers regarding different aspects of the subject matter. Non-Probability sampling: Non probability method does not depict the probability that each and every individual would be selected. It does not permit to predict the degree to which the sample statistics are expected to be differentiated with the population constraints. On the contrary to this, non probability is advantageous to the researcher in the terms of cost and convenience. This type of sampling is been utilized in the interviews being carried out by the researcher with the higher authorities of the Apple Inc organization (Malhotra, 2010). This technique assists in recognizing the actual issue being faced by the organization specifically. In addition to this non probabilistic sampling includes voluntary sample and convenience sample method. 5

39 As per Taylor.et.al, (2015) it is vital to make selection about the appropriate sampling technique in case the population of the study is in large number. With respect to the present study the investigator had made use of the simple random sampling method. It is the method which is been considered to be the most effective one because of its convenience and simple process. In the simple random sampling method all the subsets are been provided with the equal probability and are been selected accordingly. This particular method leads towards the reduction of biasness and make things easier for the analysis. The methods also assist in selecting the desired number of sample out of the large amount of population. In this present study the company acquires large number of employees and customers thus the researcher would be making use of nearly about 57 customers as the sample size and would carry out the further procedure (Ross, 2014). 3.9 Data Analysis Plan In order to carry out the research effectively it is very important to analyze the data so that to establish the outcome of the same. The researcher in the present study had implemented quantitative method for evaluating the collected data. For quantitative analysis the researcher had conducted questionnaire to collect the required data related to the subject matter. It has been observed that data would assist in testing the hypothesis being formulated by the researcher for the study (Durrett, 2010). Adopting this technique the collected numerical data would be evaluated by the investigator and would also support in making the results general to the population. In addition to this, the collected data would be effectively analyzed with the help of various tools in order to extract appropriate results out of the study. There is a systematic procedure of carrying out the data analysis in an appropriate manner. The process is as follows: The collected data through questionnaire has been coded in the excel sheet The coded data has been then imported in the SPSS tool to accomplish the analysis of varied variables being selected for the research. With the help of the analysis several quantitative analysis has been carried out by the investigator like descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, bars and pie charts. In order to test the hypothesis the researcher has implemented ANOVA test so that to gain enhanced understanding about the relationship between the two different variables respectively. 6

40 3.10 Accessibility Issues While carrying out the entire study effectively there were ample of limitations being faced by the researcher. The major accessibility issues which have been experienced during the collection of the primary data were to convince the respondents to fill the questionnaire and make them rely upon the study. It is very much complex to gain the consent of the respondents conveniently. This is mainly due to their concerns of security and was not willing to share their personal details and denied to respond for the same (Silverman, 2010). Though, the issues was been resolved by the researcher by assuring the respondents about their personal details and ensuring them that the information would not be revealed to any of the third party without their prior consent. Furthermore, while collecting secondary data the researcher faced with several accessibility issues which limited him to construct an effective theoretical background with respect to the study. The data collected from the secondary sources like books, journals, online material, etc. was not entirely accessible due to the limited amount of resources i.e. time and budget. The investigator had faced issues in gaining most of the highly relevant data from online sources as it was highly chargeable and could not be accessed with the limited budget. Thus the researcher had mitigated these issues by collected the available data and information from the free online libraries and other sources (Pickard, 2012). Another issue being faced was the time management as researcher had limited time to accomplish the research and thus it was very much critical to cover each and every aspect with respect to the subject matter in the study. It had been observed that the researcher had strived hard to include the most relevant, accurate and required information while collecting the data related to the study specifically Ethical Issues To complete any research the investigator need to take care of ethical consideration which is most important part for the whole study. This plays an important role to maintain the information accurate and safe that is collected from various sources. The proper application of data is also necessary in the study. The investigator had referenced each and every data which is collected from various researcher, scholars, different theories and proposed models. Specific detail has been given to the respondents about the reason as why the study is been carried out while collecting data through questionnaire technique (Robson and McCartan, 2016). Ethical consideration is the most important aspect which provides an assurance of the validity and 7

41 reliability to the entire study. The researcher in the present study had tried best to include all the relevant information and references from the past renowned researchers who had made a contribution revealing the facts related to the subject matter. The researcher had emphasized all the regulation and laws related to the safety and security of the information collected from different sources. In addition to this, the researcher had strictly focused in the avoidance of plagiarism in the whole study. It has been given priority that the information or data is not represented in any of the negative or wrong manner and has been depicted the way it s been collected from the secondary sources. The mutual consent of the respondents has also been kept in mind and had been assured to keep their details safe and secure while providing them with the questionnaire and had been handled very carefully (Ross, 2014). Furthermore, each and every aspect has been checked so that to eliminate or diminish the threats such as piracy, repetition of words, proper referencing of subject matter and any other aspect. Even the authenticity of study has also been checked to present the bias free research Summary Throughout the above study the researcher had highlighted each and every detail in an effective manner. The data collection for carrying out the particular study has been done from various primary and secondary sources. Questionnaire method has been used to collect quantitative data whereas qualitative data has been collected from online portals, different journals, books, etc. In order to gain more effective and attractive study the researcher had applied the SPSS software for maintaining superior level and correct standard of whole research. However, these initiatives had helped in achieving comprehensive results at the end of the entire research process. 8

42 CHAPTER 4- DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4.1 Introduction For carrying out any study the important aspect that researcher need to look after in relation to any research is with respect to findings of research based upon the objectives of the study. On the basis of this aspect appropriate analysis has been undertaken in order to achieve the conclusion of research based upon the objectives. In order to undertake the analysis of this research SPSS software has been used in order to undertake aspect such as frequency distribution, Descriptive statistics, cross tabulation, ANOVA test, bar and pie charts. Thus, complete analysis in relation to this research is shown below; Demographic profile Table 1: Demographic profile of respondents Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Gender Male Female Total Age Below 20 years years years years years and above Total Occupation Student Self employed Businessmen Access to social media channels Which social media channel do you access the most? Total Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Total Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Other

43 Total The above demographic profile of the respondents indicate that majority of the respondent participated in the survey are Male (68.4%) within the age group of (33.3%). It could be seen from the above figure that most of the consumers are under the occupation of businessmen (42.1%). Most of the respondents are also seen to be accessing the social media sites on daily basis (68.4%). Further, the social media that have been accessed by the respondents on the regular basis are Facebook (54.4%). 4.2 Frequency distribution and Bar charts Table 2: Respondent awareness towards social media marketing Are you aware about social media marketing or online advertising? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes No Total Researcher asked the respondent that are they aware about social media marketing or online advertising. In this respect it has been indicated by respondent that yes (63.2%) they are aware to such an aspect of social media marketing. Thus, from the analysis it could be said that 2

44 large number consumer have been accessing to such social media channels for fulfilling the personal or professional needs. Table 3: Respondent perception that social media marketing has the potential of affecting their behavior Do you agree that social media marketing has the potential of affecting your behavior? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Total One of the other questions asked by researcher to the respondent is do they agree that social media marketing has the potential of affecting their behavior. In this respect majority of the consumer agree (36.8%) to the fact that there behavior is affected while accessing the social media marketing. This shows that effective social media marketing has the potential of laying down affect on the behavior of consumer. Hence, it is essential for the organization to develop 3

45 their media marketing in such a way that they are able to gain potential objective of affecting the behavior of consumer by carrying out advertising using such a channel. Table 4: Satisfaction level of respondents towards Apple social media marketing Are you satisfied with the Apple social media marketing? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Highly dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Highly Satisfied Total Another question asked by researcher to the consumer is in respect to their satisfaction level towards Apple social media marketing. In this regard it has been found that majority of the consumer were seen to be satisfied (33.3%), but there are consumer who are seen to be dissatisfied (21.1%) too while looking after Apple social media marketing. Thus, satisfaction level of consumer are seen to be high with respect to social media advertising undertaken by consumer, but still it could be seen that there are particular group of individuals who disagrees to this aspect. 4

46 Table 5: Respondents perception towards the source that Apple must adopt for enhancing effectiveness of social media marketing For enhancing the effectiveness of social media marketing which source must be accessed by Apple? Social networking sites Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Social news Media sharing sites Micro blogging Blogs Total Researcher asked the respondents that in order to enhance the effectiveness of social media marketing which source must be accessed by Apple. In this respect majority of the consumer indicated that social networking sites (43.9%) and blogs (28.1%) are the channels that 5

47 must be adopted by Apple. This shows that consumer use to undergo through social networking sites and blogs of the organization while accessing social media sites. Hence, it is crucial for the Apple to enhance their social media marketing using social networking sites and by laying down appropriate blogs that has the potential of laying down influence over the behavior of consumer. Table 6: Respondents believe that are they regular reader of blogs on the internet Are you regular reader of blogs on the internet? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes No Total The researcher asked the respondents that are they regular reader of blogs on the internet. In this respect majority of the consumer indicated that yes (59.6%) they are regular reader of blogs through the internet channel. This shows that consumer has been accessing to different blogs posted on the internet by various organizations and undertaking such an aspect of blog writing by Apple is helpful in attracting larger number of consumer. Table 7: Respondents purpose to access social media sites Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent For what purpose Writing blogs

48 do you access social media sites? Viewing online advertisement Interaction with friends and families Seeking opinion of product and services Other Total From the above table it could be interpreted that majority of the consumer believes that viewing online advertisement (40.4%) and seeking opinion of product and services (22.8%) are the purpose for accessing social media sites. This analysis indicates that consumer has been undergoing online advertisement using social media marketing and this states that business must carry out appropriate advertisement using such media channels. Research even showed that consumers have been seeking the social media channels, so that they are able to get an appropriate opinion in relation to product and services. 7

49 4.3 Frequency distribution and pie charts Table 8: Respondents perception in relation to their access of social media sites for seeking opinions concerning products and services Do you agree that you have been accessing social media sites for seeking opinions concerning products and services? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Total Researcher asked the consumer that do they agree that they have been accessing social media sites for seeking opinions concerning products and services. In this respect majority of the respondents showed that they agree (33.3%) that seek social media for having an appropriate opinion concerning products and services. It indicates that organization must lay down appropriate information with respect to their products and services on the social media for 8

50 influencing the behavior of consumer towards the product being offered by them within the market. Table 9: Respondent believe towards advertising thorough social media channels are effective in comparison to traditional advertising Do you believe that advertising thorough social media channels are effective in comparison to traditional advertising? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes No Total Researcher asked the consumer that do they believe that advertising thorough social media channels are effective in comparison to traditional advertising. In this regard consumer indicated that Yes (56.1%) social media is seen to more effective than traditional advertising. This indicates that in the present era if business needs to influence the behavior of consumer towards their product and services then they have to carry out their advertisement using social media channels. It has been indicated by consumer that traditional media is no more attractive when compared with social media channels. Table 10: Respondent believe that do they gain larger information on social media marketing in comparison to other channels Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 9

51 Are you able to gain larger information on social media marketing in comparison to other channels? Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Total From the above table it can be interpreted that majority of the consumer indicates that they agree (33.3%) to the fact that they are able to gain larger information on social media marketing in comparison to other channels. This shows that social media is a channel that has the potential of laying down larger information of products and services to the consumer in comparison to any other mode of advertising. Table 11: Respondent perception towards seeking opinions of experts on social media sites before purchasing products and services Have you been referring to the opinions of experts on social media sites before purchasing products and services? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral

52 Agree Strongly agree Total Researcher asked the respondent that have they been referring to the opinions of experts on social media sites before purchasing products and services. Most of the consumer in this respect indicated that they agree (38.6%) to the fact that before carrying out purchase of any product they use to undergo the opinion of experts. This shows that organization need to lay down affective social media marketing that allows experts to lay down their views with respect to the product and that in turn helps business in influencing the behavior of the consumer. Table 12: Respondent perception in relation to the challenges being faced by Apple concerning their improper social media marketing As per you what are the challenges being faced by Apple concerning their improper social media marketing? Poor update of information Lower opinions of experts Lack of effectiveness in Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

53 marketing Total Researcher asked the respondent regarding the challenges being faced by Apple concerning their improper social media marketing. In this respect majority of the consumer felt that lack of effectiveness in marketing (45.6%) and lower opinions of experts (38.6%) are seen to be the challenges being faced by Apple while carrying out their social media marketing. Thus, after undergoing the analysis it could be said that for the Apple there is a need for enhancing the marketing that they undertake using social media sites. There is also a need for enhancing the opinions of experts concerning their products for enhancing the overall marketing of the organization carried out using such a media channels. Table 13: Strategies Apple can adopt for improving their social media marketing What strategies Apple can adopt for improving their social media marketing? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Regular update of information Enhanced effectiveness Higher opinions of experts Total

54 Another question that has been asked by respondent was in relation to strategies that Apple can adopt for improving their social media marketing. In this respect most of the consumer stated that there is a need for enhancing effectiveness of marketing (43.9%) and regular updation of information (31.6%) by Apple, so that they are able to improve their social media marketing. This analysis indicates that Apple need to lay down improvement in their overall social media marketing by enhancing its effectiveness and by regular updation of information in relation their products and services. 4.4 Descriptive statistics Table 14: Descriptive statistics concerning behavior of consumer Do you agree that social media marketing has the potential of affecting your behavior? Are you satisfied with the Apple social media marketing? N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation